“Happy and successful cooking doesn't rely only on know-how; it comes from the heart, makes great demands on the palate and needs enthusiasm and a deep love of food to bring it to life.”
- Georges Blanc, Ma Cuisine des Saisons!

July 17, 2007

Carrots and Bugs bunny!! How can we forget the image we all can easily and quickly visualize and drilled into our brains as kids watching all those cartoons?!:DThe carrot can trace its ancestry back thousands of years, originally having been cultivated in central Asian and Middle Eastern countries.Carrots are an excellent source of antioxidant compounds, and the richest vegetable source of the pro-vitamin A carotenes. Carrots' antioxidant compounds help protect against cardiovascular disease and cancer and also promote good vision, especially night vision.Intake of foods such as carrots that are rich in carotenes may be beneficial to blood sugar regulation.Carrots grow in a host of other colors including white, yellow, red, or purple, the Purple being the color of the original variety! More info at here.

What's Xacutti?Xacutti or Xacuti or Sha-kooti is another very popular Spicy Goan dish just like Vindaloo, usually made with Chicken or lamb,ground coconut, hot chillies and spices,although it was originally supposed to be a vegetarian dish. I made it with Carrots to make it sweet and hot.Last week, I absentmindedly bought another big bag of baby Carrots last week and had to use them quickly!!(Bee has also posted a Xacuti with little different recipe using cauliflower for "X" yesterday.Check that out too!)Xacutti is pronounced as "Sha-kooti" which means vegetables mixed with spices.It's the rich mix of spices which makes it very tasty and adding Vinegar instead of usual Tamarind or lemon juice makes it Goan! Enjoy.

How to make it:1. Heat 2 tbsp oil. Add mustard seeds and onions,fry until golden, and add the ground ginger-garlic paste, fry. Add ground masala pd and Vinegar. Stir frequently and fry until the color turns reddish and add 1/4 cup water. 2. Add carrots, turmeric and salt, mix well. Fry for a few minutes, pour in a cup of water and cover the lid. Reduce heat and simmer gently until the carrots are soft but not mushy and the gravy has thickened.Adjust the seasoning.3. Sprinkle lemon juice(only if needed),cilantro and garam masala. Serve with Parathas or rice if you make the gravy little thinner.

Ashaji..u know what i got you in dream last before night...i got ur image as how u look before 15years back..you have sent me lunch in carrier box..traditional south menu..sambar.rasam.rice..Really i don;t remmebr whole dream..but i got some lunchbox..opening it..it is from you...hahhaheee:)))

Thanks Cinnamon.What a nice name!:))Hope you try,of course you can add any veggie:)

Hahaha!! Usha,that is nice dream to dream girl.Best part was I was 15yrs younger!!! Hurray!!;DI think you were expecting a post here today,that's why you had a dream of me!Enjoy.I might see me again today with Punjabi food,tomorrow is Wednesday!:))

Hehehe!! Bee,I was waiting for you!:DI was thinking of Xacutti for months for X and there you go before me with it!Got a shock of my life!Hahaha!Great minds think alike.Btw,I LOVE that film with Tina Munim and Amol Palekar! I just watched the song on B4U 2 days ago (without Carrotty Xacuti in that!:D)and was saying how cute Tina looked then and now as an Ambani,she is big as her house!So what's for Y?! Can you beat me!!Hmmm!! I already have it in draft and have to post super fast before you get me! Again!!:D

Oh, now I never met a cooked carrot I really loved, but *this* looks like something delicious! Is it black cardamom in the masala Asha? I am going to try this soon -- I always have a mess of baby carrots around! :)

Hi Asha! you are too creative. That Xacuti recipe is a great entry to Nupur's A-Z. Still I am thinking what to send? I am not getting any idea. I love the color of masala powder. Thanks for sharing dear.

Linda,we make Sambhar and mixed veg masala with Carrots routinely in India and here at home too.My kids hate boiled carrots they get in school cafe` though!:DIt's green Cardamoms here,but you can use 1/2 of a Black cardamom (seeds)since they are lot stronger than Green ones.Give it try,you might like Carrot Xacutti!:)

Thank you Madam shn!I loved it too,sometimes the light and camera everything cooperates and you get a great picture!:)

looks great! I had also read about this recipe just last week but it was a non-veg one...and before i could do anything, there already are 2 posts on this! :) will try this out soon...meanwhile have to think hard for 'X' :)

Thanks Lavanya.Try it.Those baby Carrots are always look cute,don't they? Sometimes,I just throw whole bunch of them in the pressure pan with dal without chopping!:)

Hema, all Goan dishes have exotic names and they make a special Vinegar at home which gives them a unique taste sweet and sour taste.We just have to use the good old Malt vinegar here!OH NO!!! I am wrong again about the actors!!:D You probably are right Hema.I am trying hard to visualize that song and the actors.I KNOW the song though! Those old movies were the best,liked Sachin too,cute guy!Now a days, they all look like the same!(as my kids say pimps and strippers!!:P)

LOL!! Seema,nin comment kannadalli odidaglella nange bangalorenalle ideeneno annisutte.!:DI love reading it Seema.X letter dish is pretty hard to come up with but I knew this recipe for a long time,posted it early!!:)This spice pd ,you can use it with any veggies,tastes great too.E weekendu relatives idra maneli? Atte swalpa help madtareno alva? Take care,school is coming shortly!:))

i was waiting all these days as what u will come up with for X dish:) u didnt dissapoint me at all;) love that name Xaaa-cu-tti(i know it is pronounced as shakutti;), hey sounds like kutti;) he he he... sorry, couldn't come before to check and comment. tumba busy agbittiddini. since the day we came bk from trip i have been busy with all meetings and workshops w/o break. innu eshtu dina heege anta gottilla. before i forget, ur homegrown booty looks so good. mine is all swept away in rain:( so no summer crop for us:(

Thanks. Have a great time and safe trip to India Priya.Enjoy the Monsoon and mom's food.Xacutti can wait!Hugs!:))

Sia,I know! I don't see you anywhere much.I see it's very hectic for you.New job is making you work like a Donkey!:DThat's okay,comment when you can.There shouldn't one more stress to add!All veggie plants washed out?! Man! That's not good and makes me so sad.I am getting surplus of Tomatoes here,don't know what to do with them,cooking every day with them.It's very hot here,need to water every 2 days.Watch out for my next post,Tomatoes of course!:)Anyway,I made Xacutti last week,it was great.Try when you can.Do not forget to check Wadi Ambat(Tenginkai saaru) in my last post.you don't have to leave comment but check it out.It's yummy and spicy with lots of coconut.I know you will love it!:)Take care Sups,hugs.

Asha,Even I was thinking of xacuti eversince A-Z event was announced. I see you & Bee posting it. I have already cooked using a veggie I have never cooked before but still want to go ahead and prepared xacuti too.

Hi Bhags,thank you.Hope you try.Check out my main blog Foodie's hope too,many new bloggers do not know about FH!:))

Suma,go ahead and post it!I made this last week and was in the draft.Then I saw Bee's post and posted mine anyway. There are many variations of Xacutti recipe.So don't hesitate,Xacutti is great X dish to post.Looking forward your version too!:))

Thanks for clearing up the cardamom :) I don't mind *a few carrots* in conjunction with something else (in the place with the good sambhar here, you get one countem ONE slice of carrot, and one hunk of brinjal and one of potato in your bowl!) -- it's a dish entirely of carrots I don't usually go for. But am gonna try this :)

Coffee,I made this masala long back before your Garam masala and was just in the draft waiting for X this week!:)) Yeah! I love the aroma of freshly ground spices! Mouthwatering,although you can't eat them like chutney pd!:D

Hi Deena,I don't cook Carrots too much until mushy,like a little caramelized but still little crunchy.Nothing worse than a mashed up Carrots!!Enjoy:))

Thank you Nupur.I bet you see at least 3 Xacuttis this week.X was tough indeed to come up with!:)Looking forward to Y,easy compared to X!:D

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